An autistic boy, fifteen-year-old Ryan Gainer, was shot by police while holding a garden tool outside his home in California.
As per the media reports, Gainer’s family’s lawyer said that the victim’s relatives were calling for greater clarity from the state authorities investigating the incident. Gainer was killed last Saturday in Apple Valley.
He was shot by one of two San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies sent to his home after relatives called 911 seeking help for what civil rights attorney DeWitt Lacy, representing the family, described as a mental health crisis.
In a call recording released by the sheriff’s office, screaming could be heard in the background as the caller, a female, said that Gainer was hitting his sibling sister and carrying a piece of broken glass that he at one point had held to his neck.
The caller requested the 911 dispatcher send the police to take the teenager in.
‘The tragedy unfurled when Gainer’s parents did not allow him to play video games or listen to music until he finished household chores. This angered the 15-year-old’, said DeWitt Lacy.
Gainer’s father calmed him down, but the teen grew agitated again when the police arrived and rushed toward them carrying a garden tool.
Gainer raised the bladed end of the tool and ran toward one deputy who retreated with the boy chasing him in an attempt to assault the officer.
The sheriff’s department said, “The deputy retreated and Gainer chased the deputy in an attempt to assault him with the bladed end of the tool. A lethal force encounter occurred, and Gainer was struck by gunfire. ”
“Deputies quickly gave medical aid to Gainer and continued until paramedics arrived. Gainer was transported by ambulance to a local hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries,” the statement added.
Lacy told media that a medical professional who had examined Gainer told the family he had asphyxiated on vomit in his throat – an indication, the lawyer said, that prompt medical aid could have saved the boy’s life.
The lawyer noted that the sheriff’s department had not yet released full, unedited bodycam footage to the family, nor any audio from radio communications between the dispatcher and the deputies.
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